While I was a graduate student, I thought it would be nice to have a hobby where I could release some of my frustrations. I prefer to do things that yield a product rather than just an accomplishment. I would rather build something than climb something. I decided that woodworking would be nice. We had a big garage and we needed some furniture that we could not afford. When I was first learning to make furniture, after learning how to operate the equipment, a friend taught me his technique for staining wood. I love the look and feel of bare wood. Paint can do wonders to cover mistakes but to me, a painted item is less attractive. I think stained wood seems more natural and it provides more variety to each piece.
I initially thought that one would just buy a can of stain and a can of thick varnish and in two coats be done. The stain would set the color and the varnish would protect the stain and provide the shine. Like people who start a business thinking that all there is to it is to sell something, I found that to have a successful product I had a lot more work to do. It is true that you can buy stain and varnish in one can. Some varnishes are so thick that they only need one coat, but they just don't give the result that is usually sought after.
If you have ever seen how quality swords are made, you know that it is more than just pouring molten iron into a form. For the top quality swords, the steel has to be worked repeatedly. The metal is heated, folded, and this process is repeated many times. While the mass-produced, poured metal process is fast, but the resulting sword does not last, it is not a beautiful product, and there is nothing to show craftsmanship in the outcome.
For woodwork to have true stained beauty, a similar process must be taken. After the piece undergoes a good sanding, the first coat of stain is applied to the surface. The wood starts to take on the appropriate color but it has dull appearance, bits of wood stickup, and the surface is rough again. To smooth it out requires sanding that scratches the stained surface. After the sanding, the color seems to be ruined but the surface is smooth. The next step is to repeat the staining and sanding two or three more times. After these steps, the surface still looks scratched and dull but it is hard and fairly smooth.
To get the shine that is the most attractive, the wood has to be varnished. The first coat looks great but it is not very smooth. Part of the reason is that each time the wood gets wet little the swelling causes hard fibers to stickup. Because each coat is so thin, it also does not fill any depressions that exist in the wood surface. Our sense of touch can feel these differences and we can tell when something is not truly smooth. To make it better, the surface has to be sanded and then varnished. Again, the surface is scratched and dulled to make it look better. The process of sanding and varnishing has to be repeated three or four more times. Each time you approach the piece to sand it, it seems like you are undoing all of the work you just did. Experience teaches us that in the end the product will be worth it.
To me there is not much better than a piece of furniture that feels smooth to your face. I suppose a part of it is the satisfaction of a job well done. I also know that it will last longer if I put more work into the object in the beginning. It adds a week or more to the time for completing the project, but I believe it adds years or decades to the life of the piece. If I just wanted a bookshelf, I could have just gone to a store. I want to create a piece that is handed down for generations.
In business, we often face times where we have to do some sanding before we can get to the polishing we want. A person, a customer, and product may have to be removed to make room for a better replacement. We may need to do some teaching, training, or a difficult phone call that seems like a step backwards before we can move two steps forward. If we focus too intently on what we have, instead of what we want to have, we may never grow the business or our people to the level we want.
Experience tells us that the people who start a business often fail to make changes or adjustments because it "ain't broke yet." When we are on the outside, we can see that a change needs to be made before things go bad, but when we are on the inside it is much more difficult to see, let alone to do. Yet, we need to have the courage and conviction to build the best company we can. That does not mean to use up and cast people aside. It means that we need to move people to the right place when it is the right time, not when it is too late.
To make an omelet you have to crack some eggs. To make a great piece of furniture you have to damage the surface many times before the final coat. To grow a great tree you have to prune and trim repeatedly. These things show us a universal truth: The best results come from a willingness to break what the faint of hear would just accept.
What other examples of this analogy can you think of?
How do you apply them in your business?
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